


low pressure systems

by efflorescent_idiocy



Series: everlasting storms (undying love) [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: (but is it really?), Angst, Canon Compliant, Clubbing, Dancing, M/M, Olympics, Relationship Study, Sex, Spoilers, Unrequited Love, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:54:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26142925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/efflorescent_idiocy/pseuds/efflorescent_idiocy
Summary: Are thoughts supposed to drag you into a whirlpool of realizations about magma-hot hands and lingering gazes? Tobio doesn't know, but he hopes Oikawa-san's gaze is worth being his mistake.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Sugawara Koushi, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru
Series: everlasting storms (undying love) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925452
Comments: 34
Kudos: 116





	1. act one of three: a realization

**Author's Note:**

> i hate grammarly so much. i had to delete so many words.

Tobio's been doing a lot of thinking lately - much more than usual. The kind that got Hinata scrunching his nose and Tsukishima sneering, "That much thinking is going to hurt your head, King."

It's not even thinking, really. It's closer to wondering. He thinks it might be unhealthy.

_What does he see in me?_

The thing about Oikawa-san is that he is torrential. Thoughts and feelings and insecurities plague him, and he, in turn, plagues the world with noise and charm and beauty.

A lot of that is fake. Tobio knows this because Oikawa-san is only ever outwardly uncomfortable around two people - Tobio and Ushijima-san. It's easy to tell when he's uncomfortable. He laughs loudly, flirts more, puffs out his chest, and the easy grace that carries him on and off the court disappears in an instant.

Tobio used to make him uncomfortable, at least. He wonders, sometimes, if Oikawa-san would still be uneasy around him now. Suga-san assures him that he's better with people now, and he hasn't accidentally offended Hoshiumi-san in months.

Iwaizumi-san is the national team's athletic trainer now, but when he asks, all Tobio gets is an odd stare and an offhanded, "Don't worry about it."

Later, Miya-san tells him that he heard Iwaizumi-san freaking out over how he'd been able to read Oikawa and whether he'd pretended to be terrible with people. He laughs and says he's never seen Iwaizumi this concerned over anything, and whatever Tobio spouted must have been insightful - on accident, of course. He claps Tobio on the back and heads out to annoy his brother into feeding him.

Tobio wrinkles his nose. He had no idea what Sakusa-san saw in him - as attractive as he was, Miya Atsumu was obnoxious at the best of times.

* * *

Soon, they are facing off against Argentina. Oikawa-san serves. Komori-san receives. Tobio sets it to Sakusa-san, who's spike lands in a clean kill. Oikawa-san glances at him - heavy and lingering, but ultimately dismissive.

_What does he see in me?_

Oikawa-san is a titan looming over them, and the court dances to his tune, shapes itself to his sets, his serves, his plays.

But they break out of the mold. It's slow - Ushijima-san first, then Komori-san, and they leapt out of his palm just as easily as they had stepped in.

It's not easy by any means. If Oikawa-san was a siren, then their beeswax was faulty. But it works well enough, and the titan falls in five sets, though they go to deuce in three. 

Tobio lines up to shake hands. Oikawa-san loosely curls his fingers around Tobio's hand. Although he's always run cold, Oikawa-san's fingers feel molten, like they could char his hand right down to the bone.

"Two to one, Tobio-chan," he whispers. "We'll crush you next time."

He looks up, locks eyes with Oikawa-san. Oikawa-san, who for the first time is looking at him as Kageyama Tobio. Looking at him not as a genius setter, not as a Division One volleyball player, not even as Tobio-chan, but at all of him.

And for the first time, Tobio genuinely fears for himself. He fears what he knows he will do to keep that gaze on him, fears the pitying looks Iwaizumi-san will give him, and most of all, he fears for himself when Oikawa-san has finally unraveled him.

Then, he shakes himself out of it and looks back. He looks not at Oikawa-san, not at his long time crush, but at Oikawa Tooru. And there he sees someone who will not love him, someone who will burn him up and drag him into a sinkhole. He sees someone _monstrous._

Tobio knows that Oikawa-san will not be his one and only. He will not meet Oikawa-san's friends, let alone his parents. They will not come out to the media, and there will be no room for Tobio in Oikawa-san's life.

Tobio is okay with that - he knows that Oikawa-san is monstrous, for he molded Tobio. Tobio, who is not only monstrous but a monster in and of himself. Oikawa-san created him, and he, in turn, created many other monsters _(they were not called the monster generation for nothing)._

Oikawa-san created Tobio, and he knew that those who created monsters must be monstrous.

_(But although Oikawa-san was monstrous, monstrous people were still human, not like Atsumu, who prowled shrines or Hinata, who lurked in the skies. Monsters were not for humans. Tobio was not for humans. Oikawa-san was not for monsters.)_

"...we'll see," he finally says.

Oikawa-san smiles. It's one of the more genuine ones, with sharp teeth showing and no crinkles at the corner of his eyes. And it's not one of the ones he would have given Tobio in the past, so he counts it as a win. He also doesn't throw up a peace sign, so he counts it as a double win.

Atsumu walks up and rests a hand on his shoulder. It's light, but his eyes are dark with expectations.

"Tobio-kun, the coaches called us."

He nods to Oikawa-san, and they leave. When Tobio looks back, Oikawa-san is still watching. He smiles, soft with an edge, like feathers and bone. If Oikawa-san wants him, he knows where to find him.

_Why would he want me? What does he see in me?_

In his heart, he's more of a crow than a dragon. Hopefully, when Oikawa-san drops him, he will fly.


	2. act two: burns of sixth degree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i lied, it has been less than a week. i now understand authors that are propelled solely by comments and likes. unfortunately, my happiness over said comments and likes was tainted. still debating whether this should end happily.

Tobio's in rocky territory.

Oikawa-san is dancing next to him, and he has so many boundaries that maneuvering around all of them is a delicate balancing act. He's so close that Tobio can see the way his pupils dilate and smell the alcohol on his breath.

_What does he see in me?_

He's beautiful like this, like always, in a way Tobio hasn't been privy to before. His hair is lighter than before, Tobio notices. It used to be the exact same shade as his hair, but it's lighter now, a beautiful russet.

Fleeing from feelings is useless. Tobio has tried before, seen others try too, and he knows the only way to get over it is to be flat out rejected.

The problem with getting over Oikawa-san is that he rarely does anything straightforwardly. The last time he confessed, he'd gotten an enigmatic pout and, "Confessing after you've just won a game against me is so _you,_ Tobio-chan!"

_What does he see in me?_

Oikawa-san is complex, often purposely leaving things out solely to make someone figure it out themselves.

Humans tend to be like that, overly reliant on unspoken words and memories. Monsters, Tobio finds, tend to be much simpler.

Even though he's never been any good at understanding them, Tobio often finds complicated things beautiful.

Talking is a whole different beast. Talking to Oikawa-san is difficult, so Tobio often lets silence and body language do the talking for him.

Scowling is too often taken as sulking, so Tobio tries to tamp down the urge to glare when he looks over.

He slides over and wraps himself around Tobio, still moving to the beat. They dance together for a while, and it feels like they are suspended in time, like some god ripped apart the fabric of time and space just so they could dance. Their hands are on Tobio's hips, and it feels like they'll melt the flesh off his bones.

_(Sixth-degree burns can be almost impossible to heal)_

Tobio feels like a god, or maybe an angel, sky-high and holy, made of hoarfrost and lithium bones. He feels feverish, at boiling point, and ready to leave, so when Oikawa-san nibbles at his neck and suggests they get off the dancefloor, he gladly complies.

_What does he see in me?_

Oikawa-san makes him feel more than human.

_(Is it strange, then, that this is the most human he has ever felt?)_

Heat makes molecules speed up, and without the club's atmosphere, without the warmth of bodies on bodies getting closer, Tobio and Oikawa-san slow down. Oikawa-san has a hand in his back pocket - as far from intimacy as possible, as Tobio thought it would be.

"Are we heading to your room or mine?" he asks.

Oikawa-san hums. "Depends. Do you have roommates to kick out?"

"No."

"Then we're heading there. Lead the way, Tobio-chan."

He leans down, breathes hot and heavy in Tobio's ear for a second.

Tobio freezes, feels the landmines around him, the daggers in his smile.

_What does he see in me?_

"I can't wait to _rip you apart."_

* * *

They make out for what seems like hours, languid and scorching and shamefully sloppy. Oikawa-san, as promised, is far from gentle, biting and scraping nails down Tobio's back. It's wonderfully terrible - Tobio feels debauched, torn from his pedestal, and thrown to the ground.

It's impossibly hot, like in the club. Though it's dim, he can see Oikawa-san's pupils, dilated and dark and pulling him in like black holes.

He sinks his teeth into Tobio's shoulder, and it burns sweetly, like the nostalgia of dreams long lost. There will be no game tomorrow, and they will take full advantage.

The tempo shifts, and for the both of them, there is only desperation. Desperation in the rush to take off their clothes, to slide hands across the planes of the other's body, to taste the alcohol on their shared breaths.

Oikawa-san warps him, tears through his walls and takes a piece of his heart that he'll never get back. They rut against each other, like animals in their avidity, losing themselves to shallow pleasure.

 _Remember me,_ he thinks frantically. _This will be a mistake to you, but remember it, remember me, for this is all I can ever have._

His stamina is better than Oikawa-san's, especially with his knee injury, so he rides the knife-edge for a while longer, hips rolling against Oikawa-san's thigh.

_See me._

_(Does it matter what he sees me as if he sees me at all?)_

They finally collapse on top of each other in a sweaty mess of bliss and lethargy, some inexplicable feeling that Tobio wants to store, to keep deep in his bones so he can feel it forever. The skin contact feels fantastic, even if it's too hot. Still, they have to get up eventually, though Tobio groans when Oikawa-san shoves at his shoulder.

Oikawa-san does not love him, but they both go about aftercare carefully, wiping each other down and treating especially deep scratches with disinfectants.

It is the closest to tender that either of them has gotten that night.

Tobio is flying on the high, but as always, he is the dreamer, wax wings spread wide and ready to fall.

"Tobio, we need to talk."

He nods, knowing what's coming.

"I don't love you, I don't like you, and I'm certainly not going to be your boyfriend. This was a one-time thing. Got it?"

"I know."

_(There is no room in Oikawa-san's life for monsters. The dream is over, and Tobio falls.)_

"Do you mind if I stay for the night? My roommate probably had someone over."

He nods, hopes he can go back to soaring with this dragging him down. The odds are slim, but maybe he won't have to tell Suga-san about this. Of course, telling Suga-san means that the rest of the team will know in two weeks. That means an overly concerned Karasuno butting into literally all of his business and trying to threaten Oikawa-san, but those are necessary evils.

They lay back down, and though it's awkward, Tobio falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. He wakes up early, bleary-eyed from sleeping late, and there are arms around him.

He sighs - Oikawa-san has always been a cuddler. He extracts himself and writes two notes, one to stick on Oikawa-san's forehead and one to slip into his pocket. Tobio puts away his clothes from last night and folds Oikawa-san's into a neat pile. Then he showers and goes jogging, the longest route possible.

On his run, Tobio comes to the conclusion that it does matter what Oikawa-san sees him as. A rival setter, a Division One volleyball player, a hook-up - none of those labels matter, because while Tobio is all of those, he is mostly a boy. He is, first and foremost, a boy trying to protect his heart and failing, because it's set on Oikawa-san, and he'd given it freely before they'd even left the club.

When he comes back, Oikawa-san is gone. He indulges for a second and a second only, because he's dangerously close to the water.

 _"Tadaima,_ Tooru-san."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if people really want it to end happily, i'll do it. i'm that cheap


	3. act three: on boys and wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the threat of a sad ending looms over you  
> can you tell it took me way too long to write this and that half of posting it was that i started hating the sight of it?

_One thing Tobio can't stop thinking about:_

Tobio has realized that he knows a lot of people with wings. Hinata and Hoshiumi-san, soaring above the net. Hermes' sandals, guiding Yaku-san's perfect split-step. Ushijima-san, hovering in the air for split seconds, spun out like spider silk.

Some days he worries he'll snap those wings in two. (On other, rarer days, he thinks he could do it on purpose, that he could grab those wings and crush them to dust.)

Of all the people he knows, only Oikawa-san and his down-soft hair always fly away like he's found those worries and sunk his teeth into them. He darts away - no matter what Tobio wants _(wanted)._

And a little part of him thinks, _why? Why would he do that? He doesn't like Tobio, so why would he sleep with him?_ He spirals down that train of thought until Tobio's frustrated out of his mind, and since he knows he'd keep going, he calls Suga-san.

"Hello, Kageyama-kun! What's up?"

"Good afternoon, Suga-san. Could we get dinner today, or would another time work better?"

"Tonight would work wonderfully, Kageyama-kun," Suga-san says, and he must have realized something was wrong. His voice has gone all soft and fuzzy, and it's immensely comforting.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

He hangs up and goes to get ready for the day. He'll be fine if he doesn't think about it (never mind that not thinking about something is, in a way, thinking about it).

* * *

_One thing Tobio shouldn't want:_

In the middle of his skincare routine, it hits him like a truck.

Oikawa-san fucked him and dumped him.

There will be no happy ending, no calls out of the blue about how he has accepted Tobio's confession. He has been tied to Oikawa-san for years, and he doesn't know where to go with his leash gone.

Tobio feels heavy, like lead is weighing down his limbs, crowding _him_ out until he can barely breathe or think or _feel_.

He finishes his routine and sits at his table, and all he can think of is that _Oikawa-san was here a few hours ago_.

The apartment is too cold.

His hips ache where the imprints of Oikawa-san's hands have been pressed in, hot as a brand. There's nothing there, but they hurt all the same.

_(Sixth degree burns can be almost impossible to heal)_

He feels wretched, filthy inside and out, begging for more than what he's been given.

Tobio knows, logically, that he didn't do anything wrong. That Oikawa-san should not have led him on, should have rejected him the moment he confessed instead of leading him on for years and having a one night stand with him.

It doesn't help. Perhaps if Tobio was better with people, or less controlling, or warmer, maybe. Perhaps Oikawa-san wouldn't have left.

But some part of him thinks, _there's no winning._ It says, _there are a million ways, a million worlds._

_(You lost in all of them,_ it whispers.)

_(for he was a monster, and humans were not for monsters)_

(Tobio doesn't feel holy anymore. He'd forgotten that hoarfrost melts, feels like his bones are red-hot and soft under the lingering heat.)

And he hopes, just a little, that the heat rotting his insides will never cease, so he can keep a part _(a memory?)_ of Oikawa-san close to his heart, even if it eats him alive. He intends to fly into the sun.

_(he wants to char to ash)_

His mother used to say he was _loyal-loyal-loyal, to the hollows in his bones and the cracks in his soul_. And she was right because she usually was about him. She was right. Tobio was, too, when he said he'd be okay after the fall.

* * *

_One question for Suga-san:_

By the time Suga-san comes for dinner, Tobio has been completely hollowed out.

He'd handed Oikawa-san his heart and gotten it crushed to a pulp. Was it anyone's fault but his own? Tobio wasn't sure, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he bled out.

Standing up to answer the door is almost impossible, but there's a reason Tobio is the athlete he is. He gets up, opens the door, and is nearly flattened by Suga-san.

"Kageyama-kun, are you okay?" he asks smoothly, but his breath is heavy.

"Hello, Suga-san. I'm not doing great. We should talk over dinner."

They walk into the kitchen. Tobio pulls out the pot of his favorite curry. Suga-san rambles as he spoons it into their bowls. They sit down, and Tobio hesitantly begins to explain what happened.

"So, you know how I confessed to Oikawa-san after Inter-High?"

"Of course. Is this about him?"

Tobio nods.

"And you know how we played Argentina in the Olympics? Oikawa-san was the setter."

"So?"

"So, there's a reason there are condom dispensers every block in the Olympic village."

Suga-san's mouth drops open. A few grains of rice fall out.

"You hooked up with him? And he knew you were in love with him?"

Tobio is silent.

Suga-san seethes as they finish and clean up.

"What a dick! Why would he lead you on like that?"

He looks at Tobio with soft eyes, soft as velvet and silk.

"I wanted to, Suga-san. I'm not sure why, but I played a game I knew I'd lose."

"Oh, honey, it's not your fault, it's his. You've loved him for so long - of course you'd jump at the chance of intimacy."

"Suga-san, I knew this would happen," Tobio says, trying to reassure him because he's angrier than Tobio is. "Humans aren't for monsters. Suga-san, we're the _monster_ generation. We're all monsters - Hinata, Ushijima-san, Komori-san, all of us. That's just the way it is."

"Genius isn't a great word, but it doesn't mean _monster_ , Kageyama-kun. You're human, same as the rest of us," he says firmly.

And that affirmation of Tobio being real, of knowing he feels just as well as anybody else, is enough to tip him over the edge. His system's already unbalanced, planets already falling out of alignment and rules in disarray, and so he falls back to Earth.

The ground is hard, he finds, both in his mind and under his knees. He's scratched up, but there's something bittersweet about the hurt, like the sting of disinfectant. He slides his head into Suga-san's lap, hands cushioning his cheeks and sliding through his hair.

"Suga-san, it hurts so much," he sobs, and only now does he realize that the hollows in his bones have grown and made them so fragile that they've snapped from the fall. "Why did Oikawa-san leave?"

"I don't know, but he shouldn't have."

Tobio cries until he's half-dead from exhaustion.

Suga-san carries him to bed, tucks him in like a toddler, sits next to him until he has no more tears to cry. He gets up as Tobio begins to drop off.

Tobio reaches out and asks, "Suga-san?"

He turns around.

"Yes?"

"Is this going to be the last time?"

"What do you mean?"

"Will this be the last time Oikawa-san walks away?"

He smiles, the same one from high school.

"Oh, Kageyama-kun, the only one who can make that decision is you. You're the only one who can walk away for good."

He walks out, and Tobio lays back down.

"Suga-san, I can't walk away. Why can't I walk away?" he whispers.

* * *

**_Kageyama Tobio's Rules of Life:_ **

**_1\. Volleyball is the first thing in your heart_ **

_May 2000_

**_2\. You won't know if you made Kazuyo-san proud until you die, so keep trying until then_ **

_November 2002_

**_3\. You don't need friends if you have volleyball (but having a few would be nice, anyway)_ **

_April 2003_

**_4\. You will always love Oikawa-san (he will never love you back)_ **

_June 2008_

**_5\. Nobody will ever know you as well as your mother did_ **

_February 2009_

**_6\. Friends leave (they'll take volleyball with them)_ **

_September 2010_

**_7\. You'll always be the King of the Court (and nobody will let you forget it, so don't even try)_ **

_April 2011_

**_8\. Hinata is your 'someone better' (you will not always be his, so value the time you get)_ **

_March 2013_

**_9\. Oikawa-san will always come back (and then he will always, always, walk away)_ **

_Last week_

**_10\. Suga-san will always say you can walk away (you will never walk away)_ **

_Yesterday_

* * *

_One nightmare:_

When Tobio goes to be, he is hounded by loneliness. He knows that he shouldn't bother anyone, so he sits quietly and lets the tears drip down his face.

Solo practice has tired him out, so he eventually drops off.

He dreams that he is warm - not hot or burned, but warm. He sees smiles, unstyled hair, soft eyes. He dreams, most of all, that he is happy.

(Tobio does not dream.)

_(His mother's voice whispers in his head. "Loyal loyal loyal, to the hollows of his bones and the cracks in his soul!" it says. He wishes she'd stop.)_

He remembers that Oikawa-san is, unfortunately, prone to lying. An urge to find all of them, to bite into them like candy and keep them somewhere between his teeth forever gnaws at his chest. Tobio wonders if Oikawa-san was lying.

(He doesn't think he was)

* * *

_One question Tobio needs to answer:_

Hinata calls him.

"Kageyama, you didn't come to practice!" he scolds. "We need to practice the new pipe."

"...okay, " he sighs.

When he does show up, the team doesn't have the decency to let him practice even a little, kicking him out of the gym instead because he 'clearly wasn't okay'.

(They were right.)

He goes home and has lunch with Hinata instead. They have ramen, extra pork for Hinata, and an egg for him.

Hinata picks at his food, a sure sign that something's up. Finally, he turns to Tobio and says, "Why didn't you tell me?"

He feels, suddenly, a wave of guilt that's more like a tsunami. He _had_ forgotten to tell Hinata about any of it. After he talked to Suga, he hadn't thought about anybody but _him_.

"I'm sorry," he croaked.

Hinata looks at him. His eyes are warm, like fleece blankets and fireplaces, so different that the burning hot gaze he has during games - he looks human.

_(Tobio feels just a little bit monstrous again)_

"It's okay, _Bate_ yama," he says. "I think you needed the time alone, and I'm not too good with that stuff anyway."

Hinata is being kind like he always is, and it reminds Tobio of second buttons behind the gym and rejection for both of them. He starts to cry, both because he's hurt and because he's still hurting.

The hollows in his bones grow, and he splinters apart, ruins in the wasteland left after Tooru.

"Even the best of us string ourselves up for love, Kageyama, but the string will rot if you let it."

_(Can he let the string rot? Can he?)_

Tobio thinks about letting Oikawa-san go. _What is there to let go? He's already gone._

He murmurs something, and Hinata lets it go. They finish lunch quietly and curl up on the couch together. He lets Hinata pet his hair like he's a dog while he cries, and it's kind of nice. They've never loved each other, they're never going to, but it feels like high school again.

(Except this time, Tobio isn't as sure he knows how to fly. Guilt presses on his shoulders, rock-solid and heavy.)

* * *

_One answer, and a way to walk away:_

Yamaguchi calls him. Yamaguchi, who knows how to walk away, who had his heart broken in their second year. He says, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Don't think he cares about you. The world doesn't revolve around him, anyway."

He says it gently, as if he knows anything sterner will break Tobio.

And he is right, because it doesn't. The world has never revolved around Oikawa-san. But Tobio has, and he's been doing it since the day they met, dragged into his gravity.

Tobio smiles, says thank you, and hangs up. Then, he starts to think. He's been doing that again, recently.

Has he ever thought that Oikawa-san cared about him? He hasn't, not really. Has Oikawa-san really fooled him if he went into it with his eyes open? Tobio frowns. It's food for thought.

He sits on that thought for a month, calling people to ask their opinion, and it's just as he feared.

Iwaizumi-san starts giving him sorrowful looks when he runs into him on the street. Hoshiumi-san smiles awkwardly and tries to avoid talking about his odd sexual escapades, something he's never shied away from before. Ushijima-san places a heavy, knowing hand on his shoulder.

Miya-san tells him about his captain from Tobio's first year, how he'd burned and burned, and finally burned out in Osaka, kilometers from Hyogo.

He nods and thinks about it.

One day, when he looks into the mirror after waking up, he knows the answer. Oikawa-san had fooled him because he'd forgotten that what he walked into was a trap, and traps were not made for people to get out of.

The ball has hit his court - it's game over.

_(He can't.)_

His coach comes to him with an offer. He accepts.

He's going to Italy to play with _Ali Roma_. Italy, away from Miyagi and Tokyo, and every other thing that reminds him of Oikawa-san. He's not going to heal, but at least it'll be less painful.

_Where_ , he wonders, _will the ashes of hope be scattered?_ He hopes, just a little, that they'll be in Miyagi. Just for nostalgia. Nothing else.

* * *

_One thing Tobio doesn't know about:_

Fifteen minutes after he gets on his plane, Oikawa Tooru comes sprinting into the airport.

He looks around, but cannot see Kageyama. He sighs - Iwaizumi had said that there was no use in beating a dead horse, but he couldn't see it was dead until now.

There was no use in it. Kageyama would get over it. Perhaps he had caused enough pain. _It was time_ , he reasoned, _to let dead_ _things lie._

They would both get over this.

( _maybe_ )

* * *

_The one thing Tobio will never forget:_

His friends ask when he'll be over it. His teammates ask about the ex that affects him so much.

He won't get over it. As long as he lives, he'll remember it - all of Oikawa-san's smiles, the way he danced, the way Tobio felt warm in his arms.

It's been a decade. The memories haven't dulled, but the hope died the second he stepped foot into Japan again.

(His flight landed in Miyagi, so his wish was granted. He wishes he didn't feel so bitter about it.

Tobio no longer lives in the stars. Time has lashed him to the ground, and he is unable to fly like before. When asked, he doesn't mind.

~~(he does)~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: at first, i was going to name this after that storm on jupiter, but I decided not to because 'the great red spot' sounds like a zit. then i was going to use 'anticyclones' because that's the kind of storm it is, but it wouldn't fit in to my neurotic tendencies. unfortunately, i insist on all numbers being divisible by the number of words in the title. like, the number of characters? word count? it's been counted. except this time, cuz im tired.
> 
> I'll post the happy ending in an hour or two, promise.


End file.
